Forte Merchant Accounts and EMV Acceptance

BACKGROUND Forte and Acclivity want to ensure that all retail/card-present merchants are protected against payment fraud by offering an EMV-compliant payment solution that will help increase security at the point of sale and reduce fraud chargeback liability costs. Please review the information below to understand our approach to EMV and your action items.

Key Notes:

Forte and Acclivity have released an integrated EMV certified solution, pre-configured to work with a Forte/Vantiv merchant account and your Checkout software (version 4.5 and higher).

The VeriFone VX520 will be the only supported Forte EMV and NFC compatible solution for Checkout merchants. EMV devices are available for $299 or, via rental, for $25.00 per month on Forte’s secure order page.

The VeriFone VX520 will be supported exclusively on Forte’s Vantiv platform, requiring a transition from your Global merchant account. Acceptance of the terms and conditions is required in order to take advantage of our EMV solution (details below).

When the liability shift went into effect on October 1, 2015, Forte began absorbing any merchant costs related to counterfeit card transactions processed through a merchant account. As of November 30, 2017, Forte will no longer absorb these costs. Any merchant processing retail/card-present transactions without a Verifone VX520 terminal on our Vantiv platform will be subject to any fees related to counterfeit card transactions.

CONVERTING FROM GLOBAL TO VANTIV: In order to enable EMV processing, your merchant account will need to be converted to Forte’s new, advanced processing platform, Vantiv. The new platform provides you with an all-in-one payment processing solution and the convenience of a single source for funding, statements, settlement and customer service for all card types (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express).

To ensure a transparent and seamless transition of your account to Vantiv, we want to highlight the following key items that will impact your account due to the new single deposit servicing feature.

o You may notice a change to your monthly invoice. For your convenience, we have taken steps to simplify the way fees are assessed. You will now be charged a flat rate of 2.65% for Visa, MasterCard, Discover and 2.90% for American Express. No more variable rate based on card or transaction type and no more monthly fees. A pricing analysis was completed to ensure this new pricing model would be comparable to your existing tiered rate through Global.

Deposits to your bank account for all your credit card payments will now reflect as “Forte Payment Systems - ACCLIVITY” instead of “GlobalPay”.

Authorized transactions will be temporarily listed on the cardholder statement as charges from “PMNT BY ACCLIVITY/FORTE.NET” until settled. Upon settlement, the payment will post to the cardholder statement.

On the cardholder’s bank statement, the credit card transaction will contain a prefix, “4TE*”, listed before your entity’s name. For example, the transaction will be listed as follows: “4TE* Your Company Name”.

You will receive one single deposit for all four (4) card brands including American Express deposits.

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Conversion of your payment processing account to the new VANTIV platform requires certain amendments to your terms of service. As such, please carefully review the updated Terms and Conditions for your Merchant Services Agreement. You must email us at EMV.conversion@forte.net to confirm acceptance of the new terms and conditions and that would like your account to be converted.

Order your EMV terminal. Ensure that your include your six digit Forte Merchant I.D. in the order details. If you do not know your Merchant I.D. number, please email EMV.conversion@forte.net. Orders submitted without a Merchant I.D. will not be processed.

Once you receive your new terminal and have received confirmation that your account has been converted to the new platform, you can contact Forte’s Technical Support team at 866.290.5400 option #5 for assistance in setting up your terminal. You can also read more about setting up your Checkout software (version 4.5 or higher) in the Setup and Overview FAQ.